PARA Method (Tiago Forte)

Most people organize information by type (documents, notes, bookmarks) or by source (work, personal, school). Tiago Forte's PARA system organizes by actionability instead: Projects (active, with deadlines), Areas (ongoing responsibilities), Resources (reference material), and Archives (inactive). The hierarchy mirrors how your brain actually retrieves information — by asking "what am I working on?" not "what folder did I put that in?" PARA works across every app (Notion, Obsidian, Google Drive, email) because it's a structure, not a tool. Forte's "Building a Second Brain" book expanded the concept, but PARA alone takes 30 minutes to set up and immediately reduces the "I know I saved that somewhere" anxiety.